RIATT-ESA and all its members welcome the Global Alliance because it is widely recognized that the global HIV response is failing to meet the needs of children
Beyond the ratifications of international and regional child rights instruments, as well as promulgation of impeccable laws, realization of children’s rights will not be actualized until adequate public resources are availed.
The extent to which the world delivers on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will directly affect the future of millions of children – and thus, our shared future as a global community. The SDGs are universal in scope, and their call to leave no one behind puts the world’s most vulnerable and marginalized people – including children – at the top of the agenda.
Progress for Every Child in the SDG Era assesses the world’s performance to date, focusing on 44 indicators that directly concern 2030’s most important constituency: children.
Click to download the full report or the executive summary.
As part of the Sustainable Development Goal agenda, the world has committed to ending preventable child deaths by 2030. Yet every day, nearly 700 children die from tuberculosis (TB), 80% of those before reaching their fifth birthday. Treatment exists that could prevent nearly all of these deaths, but less than 5% of the children who need it receive access.
This UNICEF brochure presents key facts and figures about childhood TB as well as an agenda to end the disease in children worldwide.
Key findings from the brochure:
Child deaths from TB ultimately result from four key gaps.
The treatment gap: the failure to ensure timely access to effective treatment.
The research and investment gap: the failure to prioritize research and investment focused on the needs of children.
Despite global scientific advancements and increased sharing of “best practices”, there are clearly two entirely different narratives of HIV unfolding across the world. What is at the core of
this divergence, and why does it persist?
This International AIDS Society (IAS) Annual letter 2018 Letter explains why. Click here to download.
The Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) has launched a new supplement entitled ‘Paediatric and Adolescent HIV and the Sustainable Development Goals: the road ahead to 2030‘.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a groundbreaking global development agenda to protect the most vulnerable. Adolescents living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to experience extreme health vulnerabilities, but we know little about the impacts of SDG-aligned provisions on their health. This study tests associations of provisions aligned with five SDGs with potential mortality risks.
An essential first step in caring for HIV-infected children is accurate and early diagnosis of HIV, early HIV testing, prompt return of results, and rapid initiation of treatment. Survival of HIV‐infected infants depends on a robust early infant diagnosis (EID) system that allows for tracking of infants through to their final HIV status. HIV-infected, untreated infants have rapid disease progression and high mortality.. Investment to scale-up EID has increased substantially in the last decade; however, despite these efforts, timely infant diagnosis remains a challenge.
On Thursday, January 18, 2018, AIDSFree hosted a webinar on early infant diagnosis (EID) including an introduction to EID and presentations on a data-driven programmes and strategies from South Africa, Cameroon and Lesotho.
For more information on the presenters or to watch the webinar recording click here.
Source: aidsfree.usaid.gov
Despite increasing global attention and commitments by countries to end the harmful practice of child marriage, each year some 15 million girls marry before the age of 18. This set of studies contributes to the evidence base regarding child marriage by synthesizing research across 4 diverse country contexts in sub-Saharan Africa.
The research suggest that a combination of poverty, transactional sex, unequal gender norms contribute to a cycle of unintended pregnancy that leads to school dropout and child marriage. The review of literature also indicate that child marriage further increases the risk of exposure to HIV.
Futher demonstrating how educating girls, providing women with economic opportunities, and providing access to sexual and reproductive health information and services can provide a path forward toward the goal of ending child marriage in a generation.
Digital technology has transformed the world we live in. Childhood is no exception. One in three internet users worldwide is a child, and young people are now the most connected of all age groups. Digital technology can be a game changer for disadvantaged children, offering them new opportunities to learn, socialize and make their voices heard. But as technology rapidly evolves, so can the risks children face online.
The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World discusses how digital access can be a game changer for children or yet another dividing line. The report represents the first comprehensive look from UNICEF at the different ways digital technology is affecting children, identifying dangers as well as opportunities. It makes a clear call to governments, the digital technology sector and telecom industries to level the digital playing field for children by creating policies, practices and products that can help children harness digital opportunities and protect them from harm.
Click here to download this UNICEF report
Source: UNICEF.org.
A Call for Accountability in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals!
AIDS Accountability International (AAI) recently developed a Scorecard for Women and Girls SRHR in Africa. The report aims to create transparency, stimulate dialogue and provoke action around the state of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Africa for women and girls. It highlights key issues that affect the full realization of sexual and reproductive health in Africa generally and specifically speaks to SRHR issues within seven African countries: Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
It also provides a comparison of SRHR indicators among African countries using the AAI Scorecard Methodology explained in detail in this report.
The International Children's Palliative Care Network (ICPCN) in partnership with the RIATT-ESA Care and Support working group is launching a policy brief for Palliative Care for children with Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis (TB) in children has become a serious health issue worldwide and new estimates reveal that at least 67 million children have been infected by TB with 850 000 developing the active disease. This is compounded by the fact that two million of these children have been infected by multi-drug resistant TB, leading to 25 000 cases requiring expensive and toxic treatment. The need for palliative care for children with DR-TB cannot be overstated.
Some of the recommendations include:
This report presents the most current data on four specific forms of violence – violent discipline and exposure to domestic abuse during early childhood; violence at school; violent deaths among adolescents; and sexual violence in childhood and adolescence. The statistics reveal that children experience violence across all stages of childhood, in diverse settings, and often at the hands of the trusted individuals with whom they interact daily.
Key facts highlighted in the report:
